Itinerary

1. Highlights of West Bank

   • You will be picked up by your Egyptologist guide in the morning (from your hotel or directly from Luxor International Airport) to reach the West Bank of Luxor.

   • Discover the Valley of the Kings, a symbol of pharaohs' glory. The pharaohs chose this valley to be their royal necropolis after the Pyramids of Lower Egypt were stripped of their treasure. The site contains 63 tombs excavated in the mountain's rock; the most famous one is the young king Tutankhamun.

   • Venture inside a royal tomb and examine the coloured scenes on the wall, which will give you insights into the beliefs and funerary rites of Ancient Egyptians. Here, you understand that getting prepared for death is the first goal of a pharaoh. Therefore, the tomb was for each king the outstanding achievement of his life. The royal tombs are, until now, a great witness of the prestige and greatness of the pharaohs.

   • Continue your excursion at the Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut. Arriving at the site, the impressive cliff will not miss captivating your eyes. But it's at the foot of this masterpiece of nature that remains the natural wonder, the Hatshepsut Temple. The exterior architecture matches perfectly with the refined cliff; the building seems to have been sculpted into rock.

   • Once inside the temple, you can examine on the walls scenes that tell the story of the female pharaohs that have made Egypt strong and wealthy under her reign. You can notice that many figures have their face damaged. These are representations of Hatshepsut that Tutmosis III wanted to get rid of. He did everything to erase the name of Hatshepsut from history. He ruined the face of some of her statues and destroyed her cartouches or removed them. Indeed after her death, Tutmosis III became king and finally took revenge on his stepmother that had stolen the power from him.

   • Come to the last site on the West Bank, the Colossi of Memnon. Massive, proudly standing, and the gaze fixed toward the Nile, the two Colossi of Memnon were the guardians of Amenhotep's memorial temple. This complex was the largest and most sumptuous in Egypt; Amenhotep was revered as a god. After an earthquake of 27 BC, the remaining part of one of the colossi was believed to sing at the time of sunrise. But this sound disappeared after the renovations. The several earthquakes and floods took away this prodigious temple. These days, the area is a vast archaeological research site, still guarded by the two great colossi.

   • After the tour ends, your guide will transfer you back to your hotel or the airport.